QC eyes solar energy to light up its streets

The Quezon City government, under Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, is seriously studying the possibility of converting the city’s street lighting system from one that is powered by fossil-fueled electricity to one that is powered by solar energy, which would greatly reduce its electric bill and help promote clean renewable energy from the sun.

The city engineer’s office is now in the stage of wrapping up discussions with the Solar Electric Co. to convert all of the city’s street lights to a solar-powered system starting with the main routes and the Quezon City Elliptical Circle.

Solarco president Robert Lopez Puckett said this move by the QC government will revolutionize the street lighting system of Metro Manila.

Puckett said Quezon City pays a flat rate of P300 million a year to Meralco for its street lights. "Imagine the land area of Quezon City–it being the biggest in Metro Manila–and the savings solar energy would bring to its coffers."

The cities and towns pay a flat rate of anywhere from P75 to P200 per streetlight to Meralco and one street could have anywhere from three to 20 lights, depending on the length.

He estimates the cost of setting up solar panels with batteries and lamps at P70,000 (at one panel per street), which would appear huge at the start but when computed on a 5 to 10-year period — not to mention the benefit of being cushioned from the price fluctuations of fuel abroad and the dependability of this source of energy — then the city residents would do well in the long run to convert into solar energy, Puckett said.

"We can retrofit the current street lights or change the bulbs into the smaller but more powerful solar lights attached to the batteries that convert the sun’s energy into electricity. The battery needs minimal maintenance which our company can provide," he said.

Puckett’s company has also been tasked to install all the street lights and signs of the four-lane highways around the Laguna Lake area called the Laguna Bay Area Rapid Transit (LABART) to commence next year until 2010. The highway will showcase  how renewable energy from the sun can greatly reduce energy cost to the local governments of the province while enabling them to reduce hydrocarbon emission with this clean energy.

The 270-kilometer highway called Laguna Bay Area Rapid Transit (LABART) was launched two weeks ago by President Arroyo to help ease the traffic congestion in the province and interconnect the cities and towns of the province to one another. This way, the province can be more attractive to industrial locators and tourists as well. The project will be somewhat like Lake Tahoe in the US or the Sea of Galilee.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza have also shown keen interest in converting the city’s streetlights to solar energy. "We are talking with these executives and we hope that when they get solarized, other cities and towns of Metro Manila and suburbs will follow," Puckett said.

"We can actually do more than street lights. We can also power the other communal facilities of the cities like barangay halls, basketball courts, water pumps and even their health centers," he added…